Round Trip
by thewolfinthewoods
Summary: The Shadowhunters (Jace, Alec, Isabelle, Clary, Maryse, and Jocelyn) Simon and Magnus go on a roadtrip that both tests relationships and brings them together. It's definitely not going to be a smooth ride. My first fanfiction - let's see how it goes!


**Hello, I'm completely new here! Yeah, I've read fanfiction, but I have never written it, so this is a new thing for me and I guess we'll see how it goes!**

**This is a slightly AU fanfiction as everyone is together (i.e. Clace, Sizzy, Malec etc.), they actually get a break from running around the city or world and kicking-ass/saving the planet, and I'm not absolutely sure where this fits in the series or anything. I'm just kind of going with the flow and figuring out stuff as I go, although some of it _is_ planned out. I'm super excited to be doing this, and I hope that I get the characters right and that you readers like it (that is if anyone actually does read this haha).**

**Well, that was a boring introduction.**

**Here goes nothing!**

**Disclaimer: The characters and some ideas are property of the brilliant Ms. Cassandra Clare! I'm simply bending them to my will to write a different story. **

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Come on, Clary! We're late enough as it is!"

"I'm -" Clary ran out of her room, through the kitchen, rounded the corner to the foyer …

And smacked straight into her mother.

The art supplies she'd had gathered in her arm and her bottle of iced tea flew through the air and crashed to the ground, scattering across the foyer rug.

"Clary!" Jocelyn groaned, and Clary gave a wincing smile.

"Well I'm … here, at least."

The two knelt to the ground and began to pick up the pencils, sketchpads, and erasers strewn across the floor.

"Maryse is going to kill me, you know. She's not a woman who takes wasted time lightly." Jocelyn sighed as she scooped up pencils and stuffed them back in their box. "Not to mention she doesn't even want to be going on this trip - she's just doing a friend a favor. Otherwise it'd probably be just you, me and Simon going to Brighton beach for the fiftieth time."

Clary retrieved her iced tea and took a swig. "Yeah, well I think we all need and deserve a small vacation, so I'm glad this popped up. And she's ditching us half-way through anyways - they can't leave the Institute to be attended to by someone she hasn't seen in 15 years." She paused and frowned. "Well Jace could've come either way. Maryse doesn't have complete parental control over him."

Jocelyn half-jokingly muttered something about Jace and Clary staying in separate buildings, but Clary's expression had already softened and she'd zoned out. This road trip was going to be the perfect escape from how insane her life had been lately. Yeah, maybe Izzy and Alec would bicker, and Jace and Simon would fight, but she could handle all that. Hell, even she and Jace would inevitably end up disputing at some point, but again, this was just going to be a vacation from all the training and demon fighting and world-saving they'd been doing recently. Well, not from _all_ the training (after all, they _were_ going to be staying in an Institute), but this was still going to be fun. Normal, teenaged fun. Sort of.

Of course, this wasn't known for sure. After all, they were going to be two carpools composed of Shadowhunters, a vampire, and a warlock - some form of danger was bound to threaten them at some point. But they'd brought weapons in case of such an emergency, and with Magnus and Simon there as extra power, Maryse had deemed the trip an acceptable idea as long as Jocelyn stayed with them when she had to leave. Unless Sebastian suddenly ambushed them on the highway with an army of flying demons and demons swerving all over the road in stolen cars à la 'Grand Theft Auto' style, they were going to be all right. If an unlikely event such as the mentioned should occur, they at least had communications with the New York Institute and could notify them. And, besides, they'd be perfectly safe once they got to the other Institute. It was just the journey there and back that they had to worry about.

But Clary didn't want to think about demons or Sebastian or even training right now. She just wanted to be sitting in a café next to the beach, sipping a cold drink as she listened to Izzy go on about how beautifully tanned she'll be after the trip, Jace and Simon hopefully getting along while still jabbing at each other, Alec occasionally making comments but otherwise just relaxing and observing, and Magnus wondering out loud why he agreed to go on this trip in the first place (while they all knew the reason was, of course, Alec). No, her mother wasn't in the picture. Jocelyn would be headed to an art exhibit a few towns over for a couple days during the trip (though she hadn't told Maryse in fear of her canceling the whole trip), and Clary was going to utilize that time to have as much fun with her friends as possible. She knew that Jocelyn would be watching her and Jace's every move when she was with them, and because Maryse would be leaving, Jocelyn would be watching Isabelle and Simon, and Alec and Magnus. Clary was looking forward to a little … break from her mother and a bit more free, non-training, non-demon-fighting time with Jace.

With her art supplies gathered up once more, Clary stepped out of the apartment and headed down the stairs while Jocelyn locked the door.

"I'm surprised you didn't pack your art stuff beforehand." Jocelyn called after her daughter and tucked her keys back into her pocket.

"I'm just as surprised as you are." Clary shrugged. "I guess I've just had other things on my mind." Such as the seraph blades hidden in the top pockets of her suitcase, the stele in her bag, and the sensor in her shorts pocket. But Clary really was astonished - usually her sketchpad was the first thing she packed. Admittedly she hadn't been doing any rune creating/drawing lately, but that wasn't an answer as to why she wasn't sketching.

_Just not enough time, I guess,_ she thought dolefully, but quickly scolded herself and strode down the last few stairs. She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders a couple of times. She was going to start off this trip with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face, however ridiculous she may look. Jocelyn came down the stairs behind her and followed Clary to the truck.

"You sure you've got everything?"

"Yup, I already triple checked." Clary climbed into the passenger seat and turned to throw her supplies to the backseat. "You sure you strapped the luggage down properly?"

"Well, I asked Luke to check before he left for 'work' and he approved. And we've got a tarp in case it rains." Jocelyn jumped into the driver's seat and sighed, putting the key in the ignition. "I do wish he could've come with us, though."

"I do too, but duty calls." Clary gave a half smile and flipped up her palms.

Both of them knew that there was no possible way that Luke could've come on the trip - as leader of the local werewolf clan he'd been unbelievably busy lately. With the arrival of a few werewolves who had been searching for a new pack, a couple of seemingly aimless street attacks on a group of his senior wolves, and worrying about who was representing the werewolves in the Conclave, he had his hands absolutely full.

"At least we got the truck." Clary kicked her legs up onto the dashboard.

"I'd rather have him than the truck."

"That's been quite clear over the past few nights."

Jocelyn's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She quickly snapped her mouth shut and narrowed her eyes.

"Was that supposed to be as suggestive as it sounded?"

"You heard what I said." Clary grinned and rolled her eyes.

"But it's … it's not like we've -"

"WOAH. Okay, don't want to hear it, please just start the car and drive. Please." Clary practically yelled and slapped her hands over her ears. "And all I was implying is that you two have been particularly close over the past week. With the kissing and cuddling and hugging. Closer than usual, that's all."

Jocelyn adjusted her posture, cleared her throat, and started the truck. "And what I was going to say is that we try to tone down the … closeness when you're around. So please know that we are trying our best not to gross you out."

"Yeah, alright."

After a couple moments of silence, Clary let out a small laugh.

"For a couple of people who are extremely late, we sure talk a lot."

* * *

"They should have left about 15 minutes ago if we're going to head out on time. Jocelyn will have to give us a traffic report so that I can figure out how much time we'll lose just driving out of the city." Maryse checked her watch. "Magnus and Simon should be here soon. Isabelle, can you call Clary and Jocelyn and ask them where they are in the city, please?"

Isabelle sighed in response and dragged a hand lightly down her face, careful to not mess up her makeup. This was how her mother always was when it came to plans, scheduling, dates or times. Everything and everyone had to be punctual. _Perfectly _punctual. If things or people weren't on time, she and Alec would get the same speech yet again about how it's "better to be three hours too soon than a minute too late" and that it's "better never than late". It was just Maryse blowing off steam, of course.

_But I sure as hell don't want to hear it_, Isabelle thought, _definitely not with Simon in the car_.

She pulled out her phone and shot Clary a quick "_please tell me you guys are on your way_" and then scrolled down to Simon's name. She reread the previous text conversation they'd had, in which Simon had been ranting about some TV show or another and ended up writing in capital letters to express his … excitement? Or maybe anger, or confusion … Isabelle wasn't absolutely sure. She hadn't the slightest clue what Simon was even talking about, but the mostly one-sided chat made her smile anyway. She flipped him "_where you at?"_ and stuck her phone back in her shorts pocket.

Not two seconds later, Maryse swooped down on her again.

"Did you call them?"

"I texted Clary."

"Isabelle, I asked you to call them."

Isabelle refrained from dragging her hand down her face again and gave a tense smile.

"No one calls any more, Mum. It's like a million times easier to just -"

"Jace, what in Alicante are you doing?!" Maryse's eyes widened and she hastily stalked past Isabelle and back towards the Institute.

_Ah, this should be good_, Isabelle mused as she turned around to see a figure, which was clearly Jace, climbing and swinging and vaulting up the walls and towers of the Institute. This would've been a somewhat normal situation, if it weren't for a second figure scampering up behind Jace, and a much smaller figure trailing far behind the two. Izzy put two and two together and assumed that the unidentified figures were two of the young Shadowhunters that would be staying in the Institute while they were gone. Her phone vibrated and she pulled it out without taking her eyes off the figures nearly three quarters of the way up the Institute. She flicked her eyes to her phone screen, read "_yeah but we're running a bit late :S" _and flicked her eyes back up to the scene unfolding before her.

"Jace!" Maryse yelled sharply and crossed her arms. The golden-haired figure paused, perched on a ledge, and peered down at the woman. The second figure scrambled past him and continued upward, and third person was still only halfway up the building.

"Yes?" Jace yelled down as he hooked his fingers into a groove in the sculpted concrete of the wall and swung precariously over side of the ledge. All that was beneath him was empty air, so if his fingers slipped, he'd be done. Dead, done. Isabelle smiled. The thought of Jace dying was not at all funny (dear Angel no - death was something you had to worry about when you were a Shadowhunter, and after losing Max, she'd definitely had much more anxiety about the matter), but she knew his fingers wouldn't slip. And she knew that he knew it too.

Maryse stood speechless for a moment - she hadn't expected him to actually stop.

"Get … c-come down, and bring those two down with you. This isn't the time to be playing."

Isabelle could only imagine his reaction to the last word - raised eyebrows and a good _bitch-please _look; something he wouldn't dare give Maryse, out of respect. But, as he was too high up for anyone to see his expression, she wondered if he'd do it anyway.

"_Playing_?" He yelled so incredulously that it sounded as if he'd never heard of the activity. His head turned to watch the other figure scamper further and further up the building, reaching the top. "How about I _play_ for about 20 more seconds?"

And he took off, climbing and maneuvering up the building with such grace and speed that Maryse simply watched and didn't bother to respond. He quickly caught up to the other figure, passed him or her, and reached one of the highest points of the church. He wrapped his arm around the narrow part of the tower and stood there, head held high, the wind causing his bright hair to fly all over the place.

"What's Jace doing up there?"

Isabelle looked down from the sky to find Alec a few feet in front of her, a hand brought up to shield his eyes from the sun as he peered up at the Institute. When Isabelle took too long to formulate an answer, he dropped his hand and turned to look at her.

"He's just … being Jace." She shrugged and smiled. Alec flashed a tight smile back and hoisted his duffel bag from the ground.

Isabelle frowned. They'd all put their suitcases and bags in a pile at the end of the walkway an hour ago. Alec was usually one of the first ones to be done packing; he didn't have a whole lot to pack in the first place. Alec caught her expression and quickly brushed past her and down the walk. Isabelle jogged to catch up to him and touched his shoulder.

"You alright?"

"Yup." He replied promptly and avoided Isabelle's eyes and they continued down the path.

"Everything's going to go fine, you know. Mum and Magnus will chat, get to know each other better, and -"

"Then he'll make a sarcastic joke that she doesn't get and she'll remember that he's my boyfriend and she'll do something weird like …" He stopped and his eyes grew wide. "Like start giving him the sex talk except she'll realize she doesn't know how to give the sex talk because _we_ didn't even really get the sex talk from her, we got it from _training_, not to mention she'd have to give the gay version of the sex talk which I don't even know." He paused, exhaled, and then inhaled sharply. "Wait; _is_ there even a gay sex talk? I don't -"

"ALEC." Isabelle jumped in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. "You're way over thinking this!" She stopped and considered his argument. "Yeah, you're _way_ over thinking this." She said firmly with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. "Look, I get that you're nervous, but what you're saying is just … insane. Mum's not like that. And Magnus will probably tone down his … sassiness -"

"SASSINESS?!"

"Okay, his … joking attitude? Anyway, he's going to be nervous too. A road trip with your boyfriend's mother isn't something that's going to be all rainbows and ponies."

"Aren't you nervous about how she and Simon will get along?"

"Don't change the subject." Isabelle snapped, though to be honest she was worried. But what was the worst that could happen? She'd had lots of boyfriends before, and her mother hadn't approved of a good amount of them. So why was she worrying? Why did this feel different? She shook her head and returned to the matter at hand. "Just calm down, okay? Simon and I will be in the car too. Besides, you're 18." She playfully punched him in the arm. "You do what you want."

"Did I just hear my girlfriend use a Loki reference?!"

Isabelle whipped around to see Simon behind the fence, with his arms crossed and a goofy grin on his face. Isabelle rolled her eyes and ran over to meet him.

"I texted you a little while ago." She raised an eyebrow, and to her surprise, Simon's grin didn't falter one bit. In fact, it grew.

"Oh, I got the text." His countenance then turned dead serious, and he raised a clenched fist in passion. "But it wasn't a big enough distraction to tear my eyes, my mind, my _soul_ from -" He stepped back from the fence and swept his arms dramatically through the air.

And, behind him, was the most beautiful car Isabelle had ever seen in her life.

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**Reviews would be much, _much_ appreciated! As I'm new, it would be really helpful to hear what I'm doing right or wrong, or what I could change or add! Just a heads up that there is no updating schedule for this - I write when I can, and if people are actually reading this, that will push me to write faster and I'll give you the next chapter as soon as possible! Thank you so so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the beginning of what will hopefully be a decent fanfiction.**


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